MilesBuzz! - Nordstroms/AA miles?

According to AA.com gift cards bought from Nordstroms on AA.com eshopping you will recieve four miles per dollar spent. So if you buy 5 fifty dollar gift certificates that is 1000 miles and then you can sell on Ebay for 49 dollars per gift certificate you would be getting 1000 miles for 5 dollars. I know this is not exact and ebay takes a cut. What do you think? The AA link and Ebay links are posted below. I want a big response from other FF. Thanks

http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=16007902&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=nordstroms+gift+card&category0=

50% more miles (6 per $) for Lands End and Target). But you have to buy via the AA store. Does this really allow gift certificates? Not in the T&C...

But, Nordstrom Terms and Conditions:
No exclusions; purchases of gift cards ARE eligible to earn AAdvantage miles.

what moron would pay $49 cash in advance to a stranger for the possible delivery of a store specifc gift card for $50 that might be valid.

I know that a fool and his money are welcomed everywhere and that EBAY is a vibrant marketplace that fufills this adage.

But $49 for $50 :confused:

:td:

sorry but imho an absurd concept.

Now if you like to shop at Nordstroms any way , you might as well order a few certs. for this useage its a quality post and maybe should be in AA Forum.


Welcome to FT!

[QUOTE=writetorich]
sorry but imho an absurd concept.

Maybe absurd, but do a search on eBay and see what some people are paying for gift cards.

This wouldn't be that cost-effective...

Nordstrom gift certificates sell at about 85-93% of face value.

So buy $5000 in gift cards = 20,000 miles.

Resell $5000 at 89% of face value (without any listing fees added!) = $4450.

Net cost of miles: $550.

CPM: $550/20000 = 2.75...

You can do better than 2.75 on a mileage run, not to mention the fact that this is based on the speculatory ability to sell these gift cards on ebay, and you will likely saturate the ebay market and lower the selling cost...

Better to fly and earn EQM if you have the time.

This wouldn't be that cost-effective...

Nordstrom gift certificates sell at about 85-93% of face value.

So buy $5000 in gift cards = 20,000 miles.

Resell $5000 at 89% of face value (without any listing fees added!) = $4450.

Net cost of miles: $550.

CPM: $550/20000 = 2.75...

You can do better than 2.75 on a mileage run, not to mention the fact that this is based on the speculatory ability to sell these gift cards on ebay, and you will likely saturate the ebay market and lower the selling cost...

Better to fly and earn EQM if you have the time.

Don't forget the milage earned, if using a milage credit card... so wouldn't it be 5 miles/$ then? Or is the 4 miles/$ included in that?

Then again, why not go with overstock.com, at 6 miles per $:

Overstock Terms and Conditions:
Travel purchases, and the redemption of gift certificates or gift cards are not eligible to earn AAdvantage miles. Purchases of gift cards are eligible to earn AAdvantage miles.

Steve B.

Don't forget the milage earned, if using a milage credit card... so wouldn't it be 5 miles/$ then? Or is the 4 miles/$ included in that?

Steve B.

You're right, that would drop it to 2.2 cpm. Better, but still questionable. Not trying to stop anyone that wants to try though!

(I'll buy up any leftover gift cards at half cost when they won't sell :-D)

what moron would pay $49 cash in advance to a stranger for the possible delivery of a store specifc gift card for $50 that might be valid.

I know that a fool and his money are welcomed everywhere and that EBAY is a vibrant marketplace that fufills this adage.

But $49 for $50 :confused:

:td:

sorry but imho an absurd concept.

Now if you like to shop at Nordstroms any way , you might as well order a few certs. for this useage its a quality post and maybe should be in AA Forum.


Welcome to FT!

As absurd as it sounds, gift cards on Ebay routinely sell for close to face value. Just the other day I actually saw a $50 card (I forget to what) sell for $50.20. Go figure.

This is the sole reason why I posted the link for ebay where all gift cards are being sold for 99% of the gift card value. I dont know why somebody would go through the hassel to save a buck but it is the norm on ebay.


what moron would pay $49 cash in advance to a stranger for the possible delivery of a store specifc gift card for $50 that might be valid.

I know that a fool and his money are welcomed everywhere and that EBAY is a vibrant marketplace that fufills this adage.

But $49 for $50 :confused:

:td:

sorry but imho an absurd concept.

Now if you like to shop at Nordstroms any way , you might as well order a few certs. for this useage its a quality post and maybe should be in AA Forum.


Welcome to FT!

what moron would pay $49 cash in advance to a stranger for the possible delivery of a store specifc gift card for $50 that might be valid.

I know that a fool and his money are welcomed everywhere and that EBAY is a vibrant marketplace that fufills this adage.

But $49 for $50 :confused:

:td:

sorry but imho an absurd concept.

There are actually some reasonable explanations for buying GCs at or near near face value: easy way to cash out a PayPal account; burning an eBay GC (or eBay Anything points?); using the occasional eBay/PayPal coupon; etc.

However, from the seller's side, eBay and PayPal fees make this a very costly and ineffective way of acquiring miles.

This is the sole reason why I posted the link for ebay where all gift cards are being sold for 99% of the gift card value. I dont know why somebody would go through the hassel to save a buck but it is the norm on ebay.

Your forgetting something! There is a cost of selling on Ebay. Insertion Fee, Final Value Fee, Paypal Fee and shipping fees. If you sold your gift card for $50 here is what your fees would be:

Insertion Fee $1.00 (range could be $.20 to $4.00 dependent on how you list)
Final Value Fee $2.06
Paypal Fee $1.75
Postage $ .39

Total $5.20

Your actual net would be $44.80 if you sold at $50.
So you can see if you don't sell at $50 your cost per mile would be rising steadily.

Your forgetting something! There is a cost of selling on Ebay. Insertion Fee, Final Value Fee, Paypal Fee and shipping fees. If you sold your gift card for $50 here is what your fees would be:

Insertion Fee $1.00 (range could be $.20 to $4.00 dependent on how you list)
Final Value Fee $2.06
Paypal Fee $1.75
Postage $ .39

Total $5.20

Your actual net would be $44.80 if you sold at $50.
So you can see if you don't sell at $50 your cost per mile would be rising steadily.
I forgot something!!!!!
$5.00 for shipping on the original purchase of gift cards from Nordstroms.
So your effective cost on a $50 Ebay sale would be $39.80!!!

I forgot something!!!!!
$5.00 for shipping on the original purchase of gift cards from Nordstroms.
So your effective cost on a $50 Ebay sale would be $39.80!!!

Too bad you can't buy it online, then drive to a Nordstrom to have them "fill" the card. There's usually a stack of un-filled cards by each cashier...

Just gotta find someone buying a large item, with cash. Then trade them the card at the check-out. The possibilities are endless, to convert these to face value...

Steve B.

Too bad you can't buy it online, then drive to a Nordstrom to have them "fill" the card. There's usually a stack of un-filled cards by each cashier...

Just gotta find someone buying a large item, with cash. Then trade them the card at the check-out. The possibilities are endless, to convert these to face value...

Steve B.

Then again, why not charge on a Norstrom store credit card (they have their own card with instore rewards), then pay it down with a GC purchased with a mileage credit card.

Then again, why not charge on a Norstrom store credit card (they have their own card with instore rewards), then pay it down with a GC purchased with a mileage credit card.

Nice try! Most stores will not let you pay a credit card balance with a gift card.

what moron would pay $49 cash in advance to a stranger for the possible delivery of a store specifc gift card for $50 that might be valid.

You would be surprised at how many people pay full face value for gift cards on eBay.

Be warned that eBay has specific rules for gift card listings - only one gift card auction per 7 days (7 days counted from the END date of your last gift card listing), limit of $500 per card, and only one card may be offered in each listing.

Personally, I think anyone buying a gift card on eBay is a fool. That category is flooded with scammers.

I think you are right about the costs of doing this it would just not be worth it.

I forgot something!!!!!
$5.00 for shipping on the original purchase of gift cards from Nordstroms.
So your effective cost on a $50 Ebay sale would be $39.80!!!

There are so many cons on ebay, it is not funny. You can find good deals with some honest traders, but usually only in specialty areas. Add in warranties, return policies, laws and recourse and you have to be crazy to buy anything that can be bought in a store unless it is REALLY cheap.

I was going to buy a gift card the other day for a friend who did me a favor. There are two really nice Nordstrom stores near her. When I got to the page to where to send the card, it turns out that I had to put in her phone number and that she had to activate the card from that exact phone number. I ended up not ordering the Nordstrom gift card and just got her an American Express g.c. instead...that way she could use it anywhere.

Nice try! Most stores will not let you pay a credit card balance with a gift card.

Yes, but Nordstrom does allow it. I have used gift cards given to me in the past to make a payment on my account.

Your forgetting something! There is a cost of selling on Ebay. Insertion Fee, Final Value Fee, Paypal Fee and shipping fees. If you sold your gift card for $50 here is what your fees would be...

The other problem is that there is lot of fraudulent buyers on this category on eBay. I had some electronic Amazon.com gift certs that I didn't have use at that time and auctioned them off on eBay. One of the five sales ends up being charged back by PayPal.